Art Title Insurance Provided by ARIS Adopted by Global Art Fund Manager Artemundi Management Limited as Standard Protocol

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--ARIS Title Insurance Corporation, a member of Argo Group International Holdings, Ltd. (NasdaqGS: AGII), announced today that Artemundi Management Limited, one of the world’s leading investment fund managers, has adopted ARIS title insurance as part of its standard risk management protocol for the Artemundi Global Fund.

“We’ve been advising the art investment fund community for some time about the fiduciary liability exposures art investment funds face because of art market title risks such as”

“We’re pleased that Artemundi Management Limited has taken this leadership role in the industry,” said ARIS Chairman Lawrence M. Shindell. “We’ve been advising the art investment fund community for some time about the fiduciary liability exposures art investment funds face because of art market title risks such as:

• Disclosure obligations in investment solicitation materials;
• Irreversible effects of a title loss on performance returns;
• Inability of art funds to exit their investments without exposing the fund and potentially its investors to future risks if the fund does not replace, with third-party title insurance, the warranty of clear title that it will be required to give when it sells a fund asset.”

“The use of title insurance for art investment funds mitigates a seminal risk and will help funds to achieve the greatest value of fund assets,” added Mr. Shindell.

“Artemundi Management Limited is part of the Artemundi Group. Artemundi Group has successfully invested more than $300 million in the art market over the past 20 years and is one of the top art investment funds in the world,” said Artemundi Management Limited CEO Javier Lumbreras.

“We know that we cannot eliminate the title risks altogether and that the risk is greater and far more complicated today than it has been in the past and extends beyond matters of stolen art,” said Mr. Lumbreras. “For that reason, we’ve chosen to take the lead, particularly for the global art investment fund that we manage, to make title insurance part of our regular protocol. Our ability to manage this risk when necessary is good for our investors and demonstrates best-practices in today’s art market.”

The first transaction to fall under Artemundi Management Limited’s new protocol is a major work by Willem de Kooning, which Artemundi Management Limited recently acquired and is featured in the retrospective on the artist at the Museum of Modern Art in New York that opened Sept. 18, 2011.

More information about Artemundi Management Limited and the global funds that it manages is available at www.artemundigroup.com.

ABOUT ARIS

ARIS Title Insurance Corporation is the recognized global authority on the subject of legal title risks impacting the fine art and collectibles market worldwide. ARIS is the world’s first underwriter of title insurance for fine art and other precious collectibles and is the only insurer to underwrite true title insurance for fine art and other important collectibles. ARIS serves the art market generally and the fiduciary banking, legal, museum and broader non-profit communities.

ARIS, a member of Argo Group International Holdings, Ltd., is a New York State domiciled title insurance company. ARIS developed the field of art title insurance and currently offers the world’s only art title insurance program, the ATPI^® title policy. Coverage is offered to museums, auction houses, financial institutions and individual and for-profit institutional collectors who seek to mitigate the financial exposures associated with title when transacting fine art and important collectibles.

ARIS is headquartered in New York, NY. More information about ARIS is available at www.aristitle.com and www.argolimited.com.

ABOUT ARGO GROUP INTERNATIONAL HOLDINGS, LTD.

Argo Group International Holdings, Ltd. (NasdaqGS: AGII) is an international underwriter of specialty insurance and reinsurance products in the property and casualty market. Argo Group offers a full line of products and services designed to meet the unique coverage and claims handling needs of businesses in four primary segments: Excess & Surplus Lines, Commercial Specialty, International Specialty and Syndicate 1200. Argo Group's insurance subsidiaries are A. M. Best-rated 'A' (Excellent) (third highest rating out of 16 rating classifications) with a stable outlook, and Argo's U.S. insurance subsidiaries are Standard and Poor's-rated 'A-' (Strong) with a stable outlook. More information on Argo Group and its subsidiaries is available at www.argolimited.com.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This press release contains certain statements that are “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Such statements are qualified by the inherent risks and uncertainties surrounding future expectations generally and also may differ materially from actual future experience involving any one or more of such statements. For a more detailed discussion of such risks and uncertainties, see Argo Group's filings with the SEC. The inclusion of a forward-looking statement herein should not be regarded as a representation by Argo Group that Argo Group's objectives will be achieved. Argo Group undertakes no obligation to publicly update forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.